Chasing Rumors
by PastelPhoenix
Summary: Legends prevail in the nation of Caelania. A nation with a bloody history of attacks by aggressive Type-Omega -or legendary- Pokemon, and the heroes who defeat them. Fifteen years after one attack nearly destroys a major city, a young man sets out with three others to research pokemon and make his own stories.
1. Intro: In the City of Virian

Alarms blared throughout the entire city of Virian. Although it was currently the middle of winter, the air was burning hot and bone dry, with several fires raging across entire districts. Flying above the skyscrapers that dotted the city was the instigator of the entire incident, a rouge Ho-oh currently on a rampage. Atop the roofs of the tallest buildings in the financial district, ready to intercept the giant bird pokemon and put a stop to all of this was Joseph Parris, Captain of the city's Omega Defense Force, and his men, their rifles aimed and their partner pokemon ready to engage. The receiver in his ear buzzed before giving way a woman's voice and new orders from command.

"Give the order to engage the Ho-oh as soon as it crosses over the Corrison building."

"That far away?" Captain Parris replied in shock, "The rounds we're using would barley pierce it's feathers at that range, and we'd give it plenty of room to dodge any attacks."

"Waiting any longer than that would give it plenty of time to charge up another Sacred Fire. Hopefully putting a little heat, excuse my poor word choice, on it will interrupt it."

"Understood" he grumbled.

"Good luck."

With that he repeated the order to his men, raising his hand above his head in preparation to give the signal. His partner Ramses, an Ampharos, stood by his side and awaited it's command. As Ho-oh quickly approached the target line, the air's temperature only increased, spurred higher by the heatwaves produced by it's wings.

One thousand meters... Nine hundred... Eight...

Sweat poured down his face. Whether it was due to the heat or his own nervousness, he couldn't tell. This Ho-oh was large, even for it's own species.

Seven hundred... Six hundred... Five... Four...

The sound of sparking electricity came from beside him as Ramses prepared himself.

Three... Two... One...

"Now!"

Parris shouted, dropping his arm. The thunderous roar of gunfire followed. Before he could even do a damage assessment he bellowed the command to attack with the partner pokemon. Powerful jets of water and jolts of high powered electricity shot towards their target. Several fell short, but it looked like the attack did some damage at least. The Ho-oh teetered in the air before righting itself. What looked to be blood fell from it's body, meaning at least some of the bullets made it through the hardened feathers.

But the legendary pokemon did not retreat. The feathers on the inside of it's wing began to glow white hot, and small flames began to dance on their surfaces. The worst case scenario was about to happen again.

"Hit the deck! Cover your eyes! It's Sacred Fire"

He dove for cover, covering his eyes from the bright glow of the growing flame. The worst case scenario kept coming to his mind, in a few seconds this building and everything within a three block radius would be coated with fire. Even the best case scenario had a massive list of casualties from this one attack. Fearing the worst, he listened. He listened to his heartbeat, the far off sounds of raging fire, the beating of massive wings. He listened something that he never expected to hear in this situation: an explosion.

He looked up and saw what looked like a miracle, it looked like the Sacred Fire had backfired. Ho-oh was covered in his own flames, falling a sizable distance before managing to recover.

"Hit it again!" An unknown voice shouted from the distance behind him. "There's a recovery period after Hyper Beam, I'm vulnerable too."

Parris looked in the direction the voice came from. A man stood atop another large building, dressed in casual civilian clothes. Beside him was a large dragon pokemon, Salamance, breathing heavily. Where did he come from? He wasn't standing there a second ago.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity to finish off the Ho-oh, he order his men to their feet and to fire at will. Gunshot after gunshot were chased by more water streams and bolts of electricity, pounding the massive bird pokemon, as it continued to teeter in the air, unable to aim another attack. After a few seconds of this barrage it turned and began to quickly off into the mountains east of the city. They had driven it back.

"How are you Captain Parris? Any injuries?" The man yelled.

"We're fine, thanks. More importantly, who are you?" Parris shouted back in response.

The man began to climb atop the Salamance in a hurry, ready to leave as quickly as he arrived.

"I guess you can call me Riley, but that doesn't matter."

"Where are you going? I have questions!" Parris demanded, infuriated. It was all a little too convenient, no one could have arrived and charged an attack like Hyper Beam in the time between when he last checked behind him and the Sacred Fire. At the very least they would have been heard or spotted.

"I'm afraid I don't have answers for you, at least, not yet."

With that Riley took off into the skies, Diving a disappearing into the maze of buildings.

Parris didn't follow, trying to put out the fires in the city were more important right now than chasing after some man who could probably out speed him.

* * *

Due to his "quick thinking", Parris was hailed as the hero of the day, responsible for defeating Ho-oh, but Parris cited his success on a man named Riley saving him. Checking the records of the city failed to bring up anyone who matched the description of the man who appeared that day. Over the next fifteen years Riley continued to show up at unexpectedly in Parris' life, whenever a job would get botched, Riley would appear to give a hand. At first people were ecstatic, and many groups came together to try and find the identity of Riley, but as time went on they were dismissed as hoaxes. Riley apparently showed no signs of aging. But despite this, Parris still claims that all the occurrences are genuine.

15 years later, in a city far from the infamous event in the city of Virian, but still within the borders of the Kingdom of Caelania, a kingdom that is actually a republic, a young man wakes up on the day that he hopes will jump start his life. Today is the day the local laboratory selects it's field researchers. While the job itself was relatively low pay, and the necessary requirements were quite low, it's the only way to travel the nation and get paid.

Leaving his cheap apartment for good, he handed in his key. Today will make or break him.

* * *

(Author's Note: I'm Sorry if that change might seem a little abrupt, the rest of the story hopefully shouldn't change tracks as quickly as the intro. Leave a review if you'd please. Even if the main story hasn't kicked up yet, a little feedback goes a long way.)


	2. Chapter 1: At the Eve of Autumn

The weather was unusually cold. It was only the early autumn, but at this rate late-autumn might as well be mid-winter. An unexpected chill in the air made Daniel Slate regret deciding to pack light. If he was getting this cold on the way to the laboratory, just a short walk from his old apartment, what would walking miles on the road feel? Luckily the top of the hill holding the lab was in sight. Quickening his pace to a light jog, he hurried inside.

The room was surprisingly more crowded than he expected. Despite being in a town quite a ways away from the major population centers, it seemed like the reputation of the lab and the appeal of the job reached far. After checking in and filling out basic paperwork, all that was left was to do was wait for his name to be called. After spending some time gauging the speed at which people were called (agonizingly slow, it seemed that the head professor was doing all the interviews himself), a news story on one of the waiting room TVs caught his attention.

"… following more reports of Pokémon smuggling in the Kingdom borders. The smugglers have been reported to unlawfully capture rare and endangered Pokémon to be sold illegally in foreign markets to wealthy individuals. The funds for the project were drawn from the Type-Omega defense budget with claims that the current period of peace is evidence that the Omega situation is improving…"

"What a shitty place to be in. Either we let some fucking smugglers do what they want, or we leave our asses wide open for some Omega to attack."

A voice beside him brought him back to reality. Following the voice brought his eyes to a woman about his age, watching the same broadcast he was. One look was enough to tell him that she wasn't from around here. Her tanned skin and bright blue eyes contrasted sharply with the normally pale and brown eyed citizens of the Caelania, not to mention her somewhat heavy accent.

"Was it the swearing or are you just staring because of my looks?" She said tauntingly, turning to face him.

"It was actually the accent, I can't quite place it." He responded, suddenly realizing how long he's been thinking about it, still staring at her.

"That noticeable, huh? You caught me, I'm not from Caelania, I'm actually from down south. Way down south. Kirishvek to be precise."

The Republic of Kirishvek, very far away from the Kingdom. He knew the area was somewhat infamous for its instability, causing many of its citizens to leave, but he never expect to find any amost halfway across the world in a nation more or less opposite of Kirishvek.

"You're quite open, kind of nice for a change. The people around here aren't very talkative… Or as vulgar."

"I was more or less raised by day laborers, I've learned to be talkative. Not too big on modesty though."

On the other side of the room he heard a door open and one of the attendants call his name. He was actually expecting to be waiting for much, much longer. Maybe none of the others qualified?

"That's me." He said to his conversation partner, then excusing himself. "Good luck with your interview."

"Don't worry, they used to let children do this. I've got this shit in the bag. But good luck to you too."

He could add "cocky" to his list of first impressions. Nonetheless, he thanked her entered the next room with attendant.

Inside the small room was a singular table and two chairs facing across from each other. In the chair opposite of his sat a man who didn't appear to be much older than him with a dark beard and a lab coat. Not the person he was expecting the professor to be, not nearly as old and not as intense as his imagination led him to believe.

"Daniel Slate, age 19… From Amethyst City it seems, but currently residing here."

"That is correct." Daniel responded.

"Well, then. I'm professor Willow, and this is my lab. We need a few people to conduct a simple survey of the natural populations. Simple stuff, just listing what lives where and roughly how many of them you can find. If any irregularities from the last survey pop up we'll mark it for further study.

"Now the first question is simple, we are unable to provide a Pokémon for safety. Do you currently have one you would feel comfortable traveling with?"

"Yes sir, I have a Magnemite I've been with for a few years." Daniel responded, tracing the outline of the pokeball in his pocket containing his Pokémon under the table.

"Good, we'll test its capabilities as an assistant Pokémon later." Professor Willow replied, relieved. It seemed some had come here without even owning a single Pokémon. "Let's start with something simple. How about the WPT classification system, explain it to me."

Daniel took a deep breath and began.

"The Wild Pokémon Threat Classification System, or the WPT, is a system used to classify the danger a certain species of Pokémon would pose to humans. Most Pokémon are rated from Iota- harmless, small, and passive- to Gamma- large, deadly, and hostile. Above those are the final three classifications- Omega, Beta, and Alpha- reserved only for Pokémon of massive strength, considered to be legendary by the general population."

"Go into more detail about the final three, if you would."

"Omega- The end. Often called "harbingers of destruction". These Pokémon are massive in size and are capable of large scale destruction, but tend to stick to the rules of reality. They can be both singular Pokémon and an entire species, such as the only Groudon or the Ho-oh species.

"Beta is a bit trickier. They're called "reality shifters" for a reason. They're like Omegas, but don't necessarily have to obey the laws of reality, and instead can bend or even change the rules. They have the ability to modify time, warp space, or even grant wishes. Usually there's only one of these per species, like the Dialgia or the Palkia."

"And the last one?" The professor said holding back a grin.

"Alpha- The beginning. A Pokémon on a level that can only be described as God like. Able to create life from nothing, as well as completely destroy it. Only Alpha exists, Arceus."

"Very good. Very, very good." The professor said, pleased.

….

After a lengthy interview and hours of testing, of both him and his Magnemite, Daniel entered the small room once again. The professor across from him again, looking pleased.

"I believe you are right for this job, and I wish to extend you an invite to participate."

….

The assistant guided Daniel to a room further back in the lab. Unlike the interview room, this one was much larger. A large TV screen took up most of the wall to his left and around it were several arm chairs. Sitting down around the screen were two others, who he assumed were other candidates that were accepted, including the girl from the lobby.

"Good to see you aren't just talk." Daniel said, announcing his arrival before sitting down.

"I was almost afraid you weren't going to make it. Now I feel like I didn't waste my luck on you." She snarked back, stretching her back as if she had been sitting for a long time.

"I see how it is," the third person, a tall-ish man who appeared to be a little older than him with blonde hair and a short, rough beard, interrupted. He spoke in a tone of mock offense and made exaggerated hand motions to accompany his words. "You'll wish random strangers luck but not your dear friend. I could have failed you know."

"Shut it, you knew you would have passed anyways." She snapped back, the third person flopping back into the couch smiling. "Actually, I don't think we've actually introduced ourselves." She said, turning back to Daniel. "My name is Sara, and the drama queen over there is Nathaniel."

"Nathan also works." Nathaniel piped up, making a small hand wave.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Daniel, though you probably heard that earlier. So I take it you two know each other?"

"I guess you could say we've known each other a long time. Nathan was the older boy across the street in the neighborhood I lived in when my family came here." Sara explained.

"You could say that I was the older brother she never had." Nathan added on.

"Nor did I want."

"C'mon, don't act like I'm an embarrassment to you in public! You used to cling to me all the time."

"Strange, I don't remember any of that. Are you sure this wasn't a dream you had?"

"Do you want me to bust out the examples?"

Before the argument could fully take off the pair was interrupted by the door opening. Inside stepped a young woman he assumed was the last accepted candidate. She had short, brown hair partially hidden underneath a winter hat she was already wearing.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something." She said, taking a seat in the last empty seat.

"Not at all," Daniel replied. "I'm Daniel."

"Sara."

"Nathan."

"I'm Elise, nice to meet you." She responded after everyone else had introduced themselves. "I saw the professor in the hall just before I came in, I think he'll be here in a minute."

Right on cue, the door opened and let in Professor Willow, carrying a small bag with him.

"Well, now that it seems you've all been introduced, why don't we begin?"

* * *

(Author Note: Hooray for world building. The next chapter should hopefully kick up the pace.)


	3. Chapter 2: Leaving

The professor stood in front of the screen in front of them, which flicked to life moments later. A map of the country appeared, which certain areas highlighted in different colors.

"Here is what we hope to accomplish with this project." Professor Willow began, motioning to the monitor behind him. "It's been many, many years since we last did any kind of checking upon the populations of Pokémon in the nation, and the reports of smuggling and poaching aren't doing anything to help calm our nerves. We just need a basic outline of what's living where. Nothing too complicated, or requiring too much study. Just report what you can find based off of the old data we will be giving you, and note if there are any changes from the last project. Any questions before I move on?"

"What's with the colored circles on the map?" Elise piped up first.

With that Willow turned around and touched one of the circles close to him, directly over a lake on the map. Various bits of information began to pop up on the map, mostly about the Dratini species; population, habitat, even news stories related to that specific population appeared.

"This is the main focus of the project. The populations corresponding to these circles are the ones most likely to be changed from the last study. Whether it be due to smugglers, natural disaster, or other circumstances we believe these populations are the ones most in danger." He explained, clicking again to close all of the popups on the screen. He asked once more for questions, taking the following silence as cue to continue.

* * *

Daniel pocketed the pokedex upon leaving, he'd have to get used to having on him at all times now. All of his work would rely on this machine. They agreed during the meeting that it would be best only to stick together until they reach the first crossroads, then split into pairs and head separate directions. Of course the two who knew each other, Sara and Nathan, volunteered to work together first. That left him with Elise, the two strangers. At she gave him the impression that she was serious about the work, while he had doubts about the others.

Nathan and Sara were walking behind him, both fiddling around with their pokedexes.

"Have you figured out how to change the name?" Sara asked Nathan, a little agitated.

"Yeah, hand me yours" Nathan responded.

"I don't know why the hell they couldn't just put 'Sara'." She complained while he fiddled around with the device. "No need to put my whole damn name if no one uses it."

"I never did catch your full first name, I assume Sara is a nickname." Daniel cut in, seizing the moment to try and learn something about his traveling companions.

"Yeah, it's short and doesn't stand out too much up here. My name is actually Saraviella."

"I can see why you'd shorten it." Elise added, joining in.

"It's a pain in the ass to repeat every time, and then have to spell it." She continued to grumble, taking the pokedex Nathan passed back to her. "I understand I'm interesting and all that, but what about you guys. I barely know anything about you guys."

"What do you want to know?" Elise asked.

"Where you're from, I guess. Since I guess you can officially call us trainers now, what pokemon you're carring also."

"I'm from Amethyst." Daniel spoke up. "The only pokemon I have is a magnemite from there."

"The city with all the steel factories? Kind of fitting." Nathan commented.

"I guess that would make us opposites then." Sara said while putting away her pokedex. "I've got a Trapinch from home. Ground don't work against yours, and electric doesn't work against mine. What about you?" She said motioning to Elise. "Brought a pokemon from your home also?"

"Well…" She responsed, thinking a bit. "Unless you consider Gastly a good representative of Malachite Town."

A cold wind blew through the trees at that time, adding to the awkward silence that befell the group until Daniel finally spoke up.

"Well… Isn't Malachite Town said to be really tiny and really, really haunted?"

Heck, as far as he could remember, all of the dumb ghost hunting specials he saw on TV as a kid took place in Malachite. He could also recall some fact that there was something like two tombstones for every living citizen there.

"I don't think it's that much more paranormal than any other city." Elise said, trying hard to defend herself against seeming strange. "I mean, once you get past the graveyards and occasional noises, it's just like any other small town!"

The other two both turned towards Daniel, putting a hand on each of his shoulders.

"I would get a head start on the anti-spirit measures"

"Try not to get possessed"

"Oh come on!" Elise yelled behind them, noticeably flustered. "It's not like I'm a mobile haunting spot!"

Nathan and Sara both shot a grin at each other before losing it, having to slow down due to their laughing.

Daniel slowed down to match pace with them, but was pulled along by Elise with a sharp "just leave them there."

* * *

By the time the two caught up with them, the sun was just about to set, and the outline of Spinel City was just visible on the horizon.


End file.
